Man fleeing immigration agents is fatally struck by a vehicle on a
Virginia highway
[October 27, 2025]
By SOPHIA TAREEN and MELINA WALLING
A 24-year-old Honduran man who was fleeing federal immigration agents in
Virginia died on a highway after being struck by a vehicle.
The death of Josué Castro Rivera follows recent incidents in which three
other immigrants in Chicago and California were killed during
immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration's
crackdown.
Castro Rivera was headed to a gardening job Thursday when his vehicle
was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, brother
Henry Castro said.
Agents tried to detain Castro Rivera and the three other passengers, and
he fled on foot, tried to cross Interstate 264 in Norfolk and was
fatally struck, according to state and federal authorities.
Castro Rivera came to the United States four years ago and was working
to send money to family in Honduras, according to his brother.
“He had a very good heart,” Castro said Sunday.
The Department of Homeland Security said Castro Rivera's vehicle was
stopped by ICE as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and
passengers were detained for allegedly living in the country without
legal permission.
DHS said in a statement that Castro Rivera “resisted heavily and fled”
and died after a passing vehicle struck him. DHS officials did not
respond Sunday to requests for further comment.
Virginia State Police said officers responded to a report of a
vehicle-pedestrian crash around 11 a.m. Thursday on eastbound I-264 at
the Military Highway interchange. Police said Rivera was hit by a 2002
Ford pickup and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash remains under investigation.
Federal authorities and state police gave his first name as Jose, but
family members said it was Josué. DHS and state police did not explain
the discrepancy.
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This photo provided by Henry Castro shows Josué Castro Rivera
holding a cell phone in Virginia Beach, Va., in April 2021. (Henry
Castro via AP)
Castro called his brother’s death an injustice and said he is
raising money to transport the body back to Honduras for funeral.
“He didn’t deserve everything that happened to him,” Castro said.
DHS blamed Castro Rivera’s death on “a direct result of every
politician, activist and reporter who continue to spread propaganda
and misinformation about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention.”
Similar deaths amid immigration operations elsewhere have triggered
protests, lawsuits and calls for investigation amid claims that the
Trump administration’s initial accounts are misleading.
Last month in suburban Chicago, federal immigration agents fatally
shot a Mexican man during a traffic stop. DHS initially said a
federal officer was “seriously injured,” but police body camera
video showed the federal officer walking around and describing his
own injuries as “ nothing major.”
In July a farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a
chaotic ICE raid at a California cannabis facility died of his
injuries. And in August a man ran away from federal agents onto a
freeway in the same state and was fatally struck by a vehicle.
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